Researchers are one step closer to a cure for malaria thanks to a study conducted by researchers from Brown and MIT. The researchers used computer modeling and in-vitro experiments to study the effects of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes cerebral malaria, on red blood cells.
Cerebral malaria is one of the deadliest manifestations of malaria and mostly affects children.
George Karniadakis, professor of applied mathematics, said the team tried to "dissect and understand different features of the disease from a mechanical point of view."
Karniadakis worked with Bruce Caswell, professor emeritus of engineering, Subra Suresh, director of the National Science Foundation and former dean of engineering at MIT, and Dimitry Fedosov PhD'10. Fedosov received the Metropolis Award for Computational Physics — a top honor in the field — for his work.
The team discovered that red blood cells affected by the parasite are far stiffer and more adhesive than healthy cells. They used tiny tweezers to stretch the cells and examine their elastic properties, discovering that affected red blood cells are 10 to 20 times stiffer than healthy cells.
"Red blood cells have to be fast messengers," Karniadakis said. "They cannot travel through the capillaries if they are stiff."
The cells also become very adhesive. "When they get infected, the outside of the membrane develops knobs that interact with the walls of the arteries and get stuck there," Karniadakis said. Additionally, healthy red blood cells travel through the center of the arteries, but infected cells travel closer to the walls.
The adhesiveness and stiffness of the cells cause infected red blood cells to stick in the capillaries of the brain. The cells do not reach the spleen, which is responsible for filtering parasites from the blood. Infected cells are unable to transport nutrients and oxygen to the rest of the body.
Blood flow is drastically affected by malaria. The viscosity of healthy blood is three times the viscosity of water, while infected blood can be five to six times the viscosity of water, said Karniadakis.
These discoveries may help scientists find ways to treat malaria. The research team will continue to examine malaria and sickle cell anemia, a genetic disease with which it shares certain characteristics.
